


Brad

by leviathans_moon



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-24
Updated: 2015-04-24
Packaged: 2018-03-25 13:44:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3812683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leviathans_moon/pseuds/leviathans_moon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Of trains, rains, and a Brad in the rain and then on the train. The right train.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Brad

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Cycles](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3176844) by [doctoraicha](https://archiveofourown.org/users/doctoraicha/pseuds/doctoraicha). 



> This is for doctoraicha. I loved the idea of Merlin as a courier and meeting Arthur on the train station, it was the first of yours I read and as you see the one I ended up picking^^. I hope you like this. For anyone who wants to porn part that I left out, go go go to doctoraicha's account and read the fics there!!!!
> 
> Thank you for the Beta, A.

Drip drip drip drip.

 

A raindrop clung to his nose, tickling the cold, irritated skin on the tip of it. Merlin brushed it away absent-mindedly and combed through his sopping wet hair. He was always hard-pressed to say he liked his job on days like these. Receptionists and desk assistants looked at him pitifully and muttered things like 'poor thing' or 'you must be cold'. Yes, he was, sometimes, but he also needed to pay rent and riding the bike around London Town was far better than sitting in a call centre or pulling ales for drunk businessmen too busy congratulating themselves in order to even say a proper thank you. He'd done both jobs and he didn't wish them back, despite the English weather unloading itself on him every now and again.

 

Pigeons gathered on the train station, hiding away from the rain themselves, their water-resilient feathers not enough incentive to go flying around. Merlin felt for them. His waterproof jacket and trousers weren't making the rainy weather any nicer, just a little more bearable. Waterproof clothes didn't mean he'd go splish-splashing about in the puddles. He'd often wondered when this childish fascination with rain and muddy puddles disappeared; possibly with the first Play Station or remote-controlled toy car. Perhaps even sooner. It was a bit of a pity. There'd be less complaining all around.

 

A mob of people flooded onto the platform from the stairs, mostly women and men in business suits, a flowery dress here and there and some tourists with bulging backpacks and bewildered stares, looking for the correct platform and train.

 

And then there he was. Brad. Or so he was called in Merlin's head. It was unlikely he actually was a Brad, but Merlin thought he looked like one. It was the hair and the broad shoulders and the dark suits. Today's suit was dark gray and embracing him like cling film does a sandwich. A very good-looking and delicious sandwich.

 

Brad looked up from his phone and glanced around, causing Merlin to quickly avert his eyes, glancing at the pigeons again. He could feel the blood rushing to his cheeks and was glad he hadn't shaved this morning. One of the pigeons came close and started picking on his tire spokes and Merlin bent low to shoo it away. It flew up towards one of the iron beams, disturbing some travellers along the way.

 

He heard a quiet laugh from the left and when he looked he found that Brad had moved closer, now hammering away on his phone. He was probably laughing at a funny text message. Merlin sighed. Sometimes you hear of these cute stories where couples met on the tube because they bumped into each other or they rode the same train every morning at the same time and started noticing each other. That was all assuming that the only person you actually did notice on the train or the platform was single. He couldn't imagine Brad being single. It was a thought he always ended up with every time he saw Brad. First he was excited and then it all turned to despair and depression. Gwen had suggested he was bipolar or just had a negative self-image. She wasn't sure which one. He was sure it was neither. He was just being realistic.

 

His train approached, creaking and groaning on the tracks as it pulled into the station and slowed down. Merlin steered his bike towards the nearest door, and just before he climbed on board, he turned to look at Brad one last time, like he always did. Except this time Brad looked back and caught Merlin's eye.

 

Within seconds Brad was on the train and the doors closed. Brad was on the train. Brad was on the wrong train. This wasn't his train. Merlin knew that Brad took the train towards Reading. He'd seen him board it several times, while waiting for his next one to arrive. Brad was on the wrong train but in the right carriage, and he was slowly making his way over to Merlin, not taking his eyes off him as if Merlin was a target he'd longed to reach for ages. Merlin tried to smooth out his facial expressions so as not to look shocked, but rather open and friendly and most importantly, smiling. He was sure he wasn't quite succeeding at the moment. He felt the urge to grab for his phone and call Gwen and get a reprimand from her, just to pull him out of this shy demeanour.

 

Brad squeezed past a tourist family and suddenly, or not so suddenly, stood in front of Merlin. He smiled and it wasn't difficult anymore to smile back. He had slightly crooked teeth which only made him hotter. Merlin took a deep breath waiting for him to say something.

 

"I'm Arthur."

 

"Ah." Arthur. Yes, that fitted even better than Brad. "Er, Merlin."


End file.
